ELON — The last time Elon University lost a men’s basketball game was 21 days ago at Appalachian State, a disappointing defeat that hasn’t been packed away into the team’s collective mental recess during the three weeks since then.

Lucas Troutman traces what has followed — Elon’s six straight victories and climb to the top of the Southern Conference’s North Division — back to that 80-70 loss in Boone, likening it to a line-in-the-sand moment.

“The way we played at App State, we all said we’re never doing it again,” Troutman said. “We said we’re coming out and we’re playing as hard as we can for 40 minutes. And that’s what we’ve done, I think, in the last several games. We’ve played for 40 minutes. And I think part of it is the memory of what happened.”

Troutman said the call for increased effort came immediately after that Jan. 12 game at Appalachian State.

That was reiterated in film sessions and the next day’s practice at Asheville Roberson High School, as Elon prepared for a game — and eventual victory — the following night at Western Carolina.

No fire-and-brimstone sermons were conducted. Just recognizing, accepting and adjusting.

“There wasn’t really much preaching,” Troutman said. “It was just more of we knew what we did and we knew what we had to fix.”

First-place Elon, riding the program’s longest winning streak in seven years, meets second-place Samford tonight in a matchup of the top teams in the league’s North Division.

It marks the Phoenix’s only appearance at home amid a five-game stretch.

Elon won 72-66 at UNC Greensboro on Thursday night while Samford lost 71-51 at South Division-leading Davidson.

Elon led UNCG by 10 points at halftime and nine with less than nine minutes remaining, but ultimately had to weather 14 second-half turnovers — the Phoenix coughed up a season-worst 25 for the game — and respond down the stretch after trailing several times in the final six minutes.

“They hit a couple shots and it was really electric,” Elon coach Matt Matheny said, referring to the Spartans and the Greensboro Coliseum. “For us to be able to withstand some of the big shots that they hit and the runs that they went on, and to continue to play and to grind out and fight out a win is great for the growth of our team.”

Tip-off

Who: Samford (7-14, 5-3) at Elon (14-7, 7-2)

When: 7 tonight

Where: Alumni Gym, Elon

Series: Samford leads 7-1. Elon’s only victory came January 2011 at Alumni Gym.

Tip-in: Junior forward Lucas Troutman is five points shy of 1,000 for his Elon career. Teammate Jack Isenbarger reached that milestone last week.